Fine has been sentenced to 12 years in jail after being found to have hypnotized clients in order to force them into sexual acts. He plead guilty to five counts of kidnapping and one of attempted kidnapping.

Fine was discovered when some of his victims started making recordings of their visits to his office which revealed his explicit sexual language while they were unconscious.

The Washington Postreports that one woman thought something was wrong when she left Fine’s office and found her bra had been messed around with and her vaginal area was wet.

The Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office told one victim to wear a microphone and an oculus video recorder for a meeting with Fine and caught him in the act in an operation worthy of Hollywood.

A recording captured Fine saying: “At the count of three, you won’t be able to control yourself. You will remain ravenous, incredibly horny, [an] amazingly, amazingly aroused and excited person, and you will insist that I touch you in any way that brings you pleasure.”

At that point police burst into the room and arrested Fine.

Walt Disney Pictures

The idea of re-educating the unconscious mind by switching off the analytical part of the brain through entering a state of altered consciousness may have been around for time eternal, but science has always debated whether or not hypothesis genuinely works or is an elaborate confidence trick.

But while it’s always been clear that something happens when people go under hypnosis, it affects people in different ways. The American Psychological Association insists that "contrary to some depictions of hypnosis in books, movies or television, people who have been hypnotized do not lose control over their behavior."

However, an article by Michael Nash, a professor at the University of Tennessee states: “During hypnosis, it is as though the brain temporarily suspends its attempts to authenticate incoming sensory information.”

A Stanford University paper recently outlined an experiment in which participants were put under hypnosis and were then convinced black and white shapes were colors. When analyzed the participants’ brains reacted as if looking at colors, so the suggestion affected them on a physical level.

The first of Fine's sexual assaults happened in 2014, but victims were scared to come forward because they feared they wouldn’t be taken seriously. Given the lack of scientific consensus, you can hardly blame them.

This terrifying case will lead to a real review of how hypnosis is regarded in society. The corny stage shows seem to have made the general public so skeptical that its dangers aren’t taken seriously.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Does society underestimate the power of hypnosis?

Drop This Fact

Hypnosis is believed to have its origins 3000 years ago when it was used by the ancient Egyptians, and in the 1800s it was used as a form of anaesthesia for medical operations.